Harry Potter and the HalfBlood Prince
by GeneralGrevious
Summary: Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts going to prove to be the most difficult one ever, and with the wizarding world's biggest mystery lurking around the corner, trouble will find Harry more easily then ever.


Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

By: Miguel Rivera

Chapter 1

Of Feline and Cabbage

Harry Potter lay flat on his bed in his room for what seemed like hours. This is all he did most of the summer. He had been allowed given Dudley's old television to set up in his room, but the only thing he watched on it was the evening news. The Dursley's have been behaving warmer to him this summer then previous ones and Harry suspected it was because of Moody's threat at the end of last term.

This year however, Harry did not feel like leaving the house very often, he knew that if he did he'd be most likely followed by an Order member or bantered and followed around by Mrs.Figg, the old neighbor that until last summer Harry thought to be pure muggle but found out that she was in fact a Squib that worked for Dumbledore to keep an eye on Harry during summer breaks.

The evening news were just the same has previous summer's news. There were no funny deaths, disappearances or abnormal accidents. There was one good thing about this summer however that was different then the last. This summer the Daily Prophet was actually full of information about Voldemort instead of calling Harry and Dumbledore lunatics. But to Harry's surprise, even the Daily Prophet was not reporting much chaos in the wizarding world.

There was however a report about three weeks into the vacation that stated that a large group of giants have been spotted in wild Britain and that they believed that those particular giants were in alliance with Voldemort. Besides that the only thing that flooded the Daily Prophet was the Minister of Magic elections that were to be held August.

Most of the wizarding community felt that Cornelius Fudge had blundered in denying the truth about Voldemort for an entire year and thought that he needed replacement. The Wizengamot had held a vote to has whether Fudge will be allowed to continue and most favored for him to be sacked. What surprised Harry most of all was the Dumbledore voted for Fudge to continue his term even though Fudge had called Dumbledore mad for and entire year and tried to arrest him.

Harry hadn't heard of the two nominees chosen to run for the Minister Position. One was a very old, short, bald wizard by the name of Josef Jerder and a wizard in his mid-forties with a very wide smile that he unnatural wore all the time by the name of Sullustan Nerdi. Neither of these wizards, Harry thought, were very good for the position, but has there was still another month until one would be voted upon, there was still time for another to run for the position. Many wanted Dumbledore to run but he again refused and said that his place was at Hogwarts.

Harry got up and looked around his room, which was now dark and dingy. He walked to the open window and let the fresh air cool his face. Hedwig had not returned from her daily flight and there was no moon in the sky to illuminate the street below. He thought about his birthday which was only two days away and wondered whether he would have to spend it here or somewhere else......

He hadn't heard from Ron or Hermione much over the break. The last letter he got from them was Hermione bragging about her fifteen O.W.L's and Ron sulking about his eleven pathetic ones. To Harry's surprise he had scraped eleven O.W.L's himself and was even more surprised when he had gotten an Outstanding O.W.L in Potions, which meant he would have Snape for another two years....but at least Ron and Hermione would be there as well, since they too got Outstanding in Potions.

He surmised that he and Ron had performed better in Potions class whenever they were not being bullied by Snape. Harry wondered whether Neville had performed better.

Everyone knew that the only other person Snape tortured more than Harry was Neville. Last semester however, Snape had started giving Harry Occlumency lessons privately on Dumbledore's instructions. When Snape had found out Harry had seen shapes worst memory in his pensieve, Snape threw him out of his office and did not continue giving Harry Occlumency lessons.

Ever since Harry had been lured to a trap by Voldemort, Harry had been shutting his mind not only every night before sleep but at consistent intervals. Thinking about Occlumency brought back the memory of Sirius. If Harry had not taken that vision of Voldemort torturing Sirius seriously, Sirius would still be alive again. Harry Tried not to think of his godfather too much, but he found himself thinking about him every few minutes. His laugh like a bark, his tired face that had once been very handsome. He had wished he spent more time with him but knew he couldn't even if he wanted to.

Rage filled his thoughts. Rage at Sirius' cousin Bellatrix Lestrange, which was that person that had sent Sirius though that dreaded archway in the Department of Mysteries. _She's going to pay for what she did to Sirius_, thought Harry angrily as he stared at the half-moon. There was a sudden pain in his scar, which left as quickly as it had came. _Calm down, Harry. You're letting Voldemort feel your emotions._ He quickly did his usual routine of ridding his mind of thought, took a deep breath and gazed outside the window again.

That's when Harry saw him. There was a man standing on Privet Drive, staring up at Harry. Harry squinted his eyes but could not see anything else about the man except that shadowy outline of what looked like very bushy hair surrounding his entire head. He also saw a hint of yellow coming from the man's eyes staring up at him. They both stared at each other for what seemed like minutes, then Harry blinked and the man was gone.

Harry just stared at the spot the man stood for a long while. He had never seen a man like that in his life, and he had only seen his outline. He took another deep breath, closed his eyes and opened them again. Something else in his field of vision caught his attention. It was a white spot in the sky, flying over to him. It was Hedwig and she had an envelope attached to her talons. She into the room and landed with a nice flump on Harry's bed.

Harry went over to her and took the letter. It was from Ron.

_Hey, _

_Guess what? Luna has invited us to her birthday party this week. It's on the same day has your birthday! Mum thought it was a good idea to throw a triple birthday party (Neville's b-day is the same date too!) So Mum told me to tell you to go to Ms.Figg's house tomorrow night so you can take a portkey to the Burrow. See ya tomorrow. _

_Ron_

Harry smiled for the first time this summer. For the first time ever in his life he was going to have a birthday part and all his bests friends were going to be there.

He gave Hedwig some owl treats and started packing his clothes, books and everything else he owned. He wasn't leaving till tomorrow night, but he was so excited that every thought escaped his mind.

It was well past midnight when he had finished neatly packing all of his possessions. He fell on his bed and stared up at his ceiling thinking about all the fun he was going to have this summer and then suddenly his grin turned upside down has he realized that Sirius was not going to attend his first ever birthday party. If there was one person in the world Harry wanted to attend was his godfather.

Tears started to fill up in his eyes and Harry Potter, feeling guilty that he should not be thinking of having fun just a month after Sirius' death, cried himself to sleep.

Harry walked down for breakfast the next morning to find all the Dursleys already eating their breakfast. They ignored him has usual as he sat down and helped himself to eggs and a bit of toast.

They ate in silence for a while until Harry decided to break it.

"I'm leaving for my friend Ron's house tonight," he said in a very bored manner has to not seem to over excited.

"I'm taking a portkey from Ms.Figg's house tonight."

He knew instantly that that sentence alone confused the Dursleys more than they have been confused their entire life time. Dudley looked like a lost pig; Uncle Vernon looked as though he had been slapped in the face. Aunt Petunia however looked like she always did, as though she understood every word of Harry's statement.

"Take a what?" asked Uncle Vernon.

"A portkey," explained Harry giving Aunt Petunia a suspicious look then looking back on to Uncle Vernon. "It's an object that can instantly transport you places."

Uncle Vernon swelled up like a balloon. There was a vein throbbing out on his left temple. Harry knew the one thing that irked Uncle Vernon the most was mentioning anything magical in the house. Since Moody's threat however, everytime Harry purposely mentioned anything magical, Vernon would swell up in anger but did not yell at his nephew or say anything at all.

"Why would you take that thing at Figg's house?" asked Aunt Petunia. Harry suddenly realized that the Durlseys did not know that their neighbor was a squib and doubted very much that they knew what a squib even was.

"Ms.Figg is a squib," he continued, ignoring Uncle Vernon's other veins throbbing out, "a squib is somebody who is born from magical parents but is non-magic."

Uncle Vernon coughed and knew he was probably saying to himself why Harry couldn't have turned out to be a squib. Harry looked over at his Aunt and saw that she looked rather normal for herself (like she has dung under her nose) as she took their plates and started washing them.

Uncle Vernon left to go see the morning news while Dudley, clutching three bagels in his arms, went upstairs to him room. Harry sat down next to his uncle in the living room.

Harry was much more grateful for Moody's threat because he could now watch the news without being interrogated. He could of course gone up to his room to watch it but the living room was much more comfortable.

The morning news came on and the news reported started talking. "Breaking news just arrives us here. There seemed to be some weird attack in the village of Rosewood." Harry's heart did a somersault and he edged up on the seat listening more closely.

"The village has reported that many people there have dropped dead of unknown occurrences. When the survivors of this attack were questioned, none of them seemed to remember where they were the night these people dropped dead. The police of course have taken all the survivors into custody for further questioning. The death toll has reached thirty-three, which counts for about a third of Rosewood's very small population."

He finished his report and went on to talk about the weather with the weather man, Jimmy McDuff. Harry sat there, lost for words. He finally reached a conclusion.

"It was Voldemort," he blurted out on accident. There was a clash in the kitchen. Harry and Uncle Vernon turned to see what happened. Aunt Petunia had dropped a plate on the floor, shattering it completely.

"Oops, slipped out of my hands," she said as she picked up the pieces and trashed them in the bin.

Harry looked at her suspiciously. "What else do you know about my world?" he blurted out. Uncle Vernon stopped watching the news and started staring from Harry to Aunt Petunia and back again. He gave Aunt Petunia a puzzled look.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I despise your kind. Don't ever talk to me about _them_ in front of me again." She finished and went back to washing the dishes. Harry however did not think the conversation was over.

"Why did you remember the name of dementors last summer when they attacked me and Dudley? What else did you learn from my mother?" he said with a very strict voice.

"I said not to mention _them_ or your arrogant mother again!" She had stopped washing the dishes and stood there rage filling her, staring at Harry with menacing eyes.

"My mother was not arrogant! She was more talented then you will ever be!"

Harry seemed to finally have broken Aunt Petunia. She started sobbing in her hands. Harry had never seen Aunt Petunia cry. Obviously, Uncle Vernon had never seen her cry either for he was looking at his wife appalled.

"You're right! She did have more talent. I was always trying to get my parents attention, but _she_ always won them over. It's not fair! Why did she have to become one of _them_ and not me?" She stormed out of the kitchen, upstairs and into her and Vernon's room.

Harry just sat there, lost for words. So did, apparently Uncle Vernon. They both just sat there for what seemed like minutes until Harry couldn't handle the uncomfortable silence and headed upstairs. Has he passes Aunt Petunia's room, he heard continuing sobbing. He was about to say something, but couldn't think of anything else to say. He just headed for his room and shut himself in for the rest of day. For lunch, Aunt Petunia just slid food under the door slit Uncle Vernon had installed.

Dinner time came around and he headed downstairs where they had already started eating. Harry took his regular chair and sat down. They ate in silence. Nobody looked at anybody else, there was just the noise of food being scraped from their dishes and stuffed into their mouths. Finally when Harry had finished is supper he got up to go to his room when there was a faint knock on at the door.

Since Harry was already up he went to answer it. It was Ms.Figg.

"Dumbledore told me your friend Ron had already sent you a letter telling you to come over tonight, but I think it better if I came to pick you up," she added with a smile.

"I'll go get my stuff, please come in, I won't take long, I've already packed." He said, setting off toward his room, leaving Ms.Figg alone with the Dursleys. Finally after heaving his trunk downstairs they said good-bye to the Dursleys and made their way to Ms.Figg's house.

Harry entered to the usual smell of cabbage and feline. Mr.Tibbles brushed across his legs when he entered and leapt on his lap when he sat down in Ms.Figg's living room. She went to a room in the back and came back with and old shoe and sat down across from Harry.

"This is the portkey you will be using to get to the Burrow. Unfortunately it will not activate until seven o'clock." She said with a small smile. Harry looked at the clock on the wall. It read six forty-eight. They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Mr.Tibbles likes you." She said looking at Mr.Tibbles with a hard stare. Harry looked at Ms.Figg then at Mr.Tibbles then said in a nervous voice, "Mr.Tibbles isn't an animagus is he?" Harry asked wondering whether he was just another Order member looking after him.

"Oh, no, not Mr.Tibbles. It's just that, well Squibs have a special kind of bond with cats. It's about the only thing magical that's in our bodies." She said with another small smile at Mr.Tibbles.

Finally Harry understood why Ms.Figg had so many cats and why Mr. Filch also understood if Ms.Norris had picked up troublemakers. He mentioned Mr. Filch to her but she didn't seem to know who he was. They continued sitting in silence until it was six fifty-nine.

"Well, here you go." She said has she put the old shoe on the floor. Harry picked up his trunk, Hedwig's cage, and his Firebolt and with a little help from Ms.Figg was able to put a finger on the shoe. Then all of a sudden, Harry felt a huge lurch has he was taken away from Ms.Figg's house and was flying through space and time, heading head straight, back to the Burrow.


End file.
